Opening Against Favored U.s. Won't Be A Picnic For Danes

NEW YORK — Lene Terp, captain of the Danish national soccer team, routinely plays in front of friendly crowds for her semi-pro club in Odense. The fans bring their own lawn chairs and snacks.

"There are usually about 100 people, and we know them all," Terp said.

The scene will be a bit different at Giants Stadium, where Denmark opens against the favored U.S. team Saturday (2 p.m., WLS-Ch. 7). Women's World Cup organizers say they have sold 74,000 tickets to the double-header, which also features the Brazil-Mexico match. Terp does not expect to see many people waving the red-and-white flag of Denmark, but she said the team intends to convert the energy for its own purposes.

Denmark has a 3-6-1 record against the U.S. team, last winning in 1995. In the teams' most recent meeting, the U.S. prevailed 5-0 at last year's Goodwill Games.

The conventional thinking is that the Danes, a rugged, methodical team, will station most of their players behind the ball to try to gum up the U.S. offense. But head coach Jorgen Hvidemose hinted he may not be so conservative.

"I don't think that's the way to beat the Americans," said Hvidemose, a successful men's club coach who has guided the women for three years.

How, then?

He smiled inscrutably.

"Another way."

Hvidemose may have more than one bite of the Americans' apple pie. If Denmark finishes second in Group A and wins its quarterfinal match, the two teams could meet again in the July 4 semifinal at Stanford.

Women have been playing organized soccer in Denmark for a quarter-century, but elite youth programs truly only got going a few years ago. Hvidemose said talented young female athletes still tend to gravitate toward team handball and badminton, where Denmark has won world championships. The media, which closely chronicle the exploits of the men's team, has been largely indifferent.

"It is a fight to be respected," Hvidemose said.

But Denmark, one of three Scandinavian nations represented in the World Cup field, has a couple of things going for it: what Hvidemose calls "a good fitness culture," and progressive attitudes toward women in general.

No one has been more struck by that than Danish forward Mikka Hansen, a San Jose-area native who was a top player at Santa Clara University.

"The men are a lot more emotional and sensitive and caring towards women in Denmark than they are here," Hansen said. "They say what they're feeling and they're not afraid to cry."

Hansen, 23, played for the U.S. Under-21 team for two years but knew she was not in the picture for the full national team. Her father is a Danish citizen, so she was automatically eligible to play for that country.

"They have Mia (Hamm) and Tiffeny (Milbrett), so I knew I wouldn't get a chance," said Hansen, who also plays for a Danish club team. "It wasn't a difficult decision to make."

Hansen finished her career at Santa Clara with 52 goals. Broncos coach Jerry Smith said she is a step too slow to make the U.S. front line, but described her as "a wonderful player who can and will help Denmark."

If Denmark can create scoring opportunities, 21-year-old striker Gitte Krogh, who has 25 goals in 62 international appearances, is adept at finishing them. The team is stocked with World Cup and Olympic veterans, and Terp said one of the chief objectives of the team is to make the quarterfinals and thus qualify for the 2000 Olympics.